Crew Dragon Endeavor
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Crew Dragon ''Endeavour'' (serial number C206) is the first operational
Crew Dragon Dragon 2 is a class of partially reusable spacecraft developed, manufactured, and operated by the American space company SpaceX for flights to the International Space Station (ISS) and private spaceflight missions. The spacecraft, which consi ...
reusable spacecraft manufactured and operated by
SpaceX Space Exploration Technologies Corp., commonly referred to as SpaceX, is an America, American space technology company headquartered at the SpaceX Starbase, Starbase development site in Starbase, Texas. Since its founding in 2002, the compa ...
. The spacecraft is named after . It first launched on 30 May 2020 to the
International Space Station The International Space Station (ISS) is a large space station that was Assembly of the International Space Station, assembled and is maintained in low Earth orbit by a collaboration of five space agencies and their contractors: NASA (United ...
(ISS) on the
Crew Dragon Demo-2 Crew Dragon Demo-2 (officially Crew Demo-2, SpaceX Demo-2, or Demonstration Mission-2) was the first crewed test flight of the Crew Dragon spacecraft. The spacecraft, named '' Endeavour'', launched on 30 May 2020 on a Falcon 9 rocket, and carr ...
mission. It has subsequently been used for the
SpaceX Crew-2 SpaceX Crew-2 was the second operational flight of a SpaceX Dragon 2, Crew Dragon spacecraft, and the third overall crewed orbital flight of the Commercial Crew Program. The mission was launched on 23 April 2021 at 09:49:02 Coordinated Univers ...
mission that launched in April 2021, the private
Axiom Mission 1 Axiom Mission 1 (or Ax-1) was a privately funded and operated crewed mission to the International Space Station (ISS). The mission was operated by Axiom Space out of Axiom's Mission Control Center MCC-A in Houston, Texas. The flight launched ...
that launched in April 2022, the
SpaceX Crew-6 SpaceX Crew-6 was the sixth crewed operational NASA Commercial Crew flight of a Crew Dragon spacecraft, and the ninth overall crewed orbital flight. The mission launched on 2 March 2023 at 05:34:14UTC, and it successfully docked to the Interna ...
mission that launched in March 2023, and the
SpaceX Crew-8 SpaceX Crew-8 was the eighth crewed operational NASA Commercial Crew Program, Commercial Crew flight and the 13th overall crewed orbital flight of a SpaceX Dragon 2, Crew Dragon spacecraft. The mission launched on 4 March 2024. The Crew-8 miss ...
mission from early March 2024 to late October 2024. , ''Endeavour'' holds the single-mission record for the most time in orbit by an American crewed spacecraft at 235 days.


First flight: Demo-2 mission


Change in mission

After the success of
Crew Dragon Demo-1 Crew Dragon Demo-1 (officially Crew Demo-1, SpaceX Demo-1, or Demonstration Mission-1) was the first orbital test of the Dragon 2 spacecraft. The mission launched on 2 March 2019 at 07:49:03 UTC, and arrived at the International Space Stati ...
using
Crew Dragon C204 Crew Dragon C204 was part of Crew Dragon flight vehicle SN 2-1 (sometimes incorrectly called C201) manufactured and operated by SpaceX and used by NASA's Commercial Crew Program. Used in the uncrewed Demo-1 mission, it was launched atop a Falc ...
, that spacecraft was originally planned to be used for the
Crew Dragon In-Flight Abort Test The Crew Dragon In-Flight Abort Test (also known as Crew Dragon Launch Escape Demonstration) was a successful test of the SpaceX Dragon 2 abort system, conducted on 19 January 2020. It was the final assessment for the Crew Dragon capsule and F ...
. However, on 20 April 2019, Crew Dragon C204 was destroyed in an explosion during static fire testing at the
Landing Zone 1 Landing Zone 1 and Landing Zone 2, also known as LZ-1 and LZ-2 respectively, are landing facilities at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station used by SpaceX. They allow the company to land the first stage of its Falcon 9 rocket or the two side boost ...
facility. On the day of the anomaly, the initial testing of the Crew Dragon's Draco thrusters was successful, with the explosion occurring during the test of the
SuperDraco SuperDraco is a hypergolic propellant rocket engine designed and built by SpaceX. It is part of the SpaceX Draco family of rocket engines. A redundant array of eight SuperDraco engines provides fault-tolerant propulsion for use as a launch escap ...
abort system.
Crew Dragon C205 Crew Dragon C205 is a Crew Dragon capsule manufactured and built by SpaceX. It completed its only flight on January 19, 2020, with the Crew Dragon In-Flight Abort Test mission where the capsule detached from the Falcon 9 B1046 booster at max q ...
, then slated to be used for the Demo-2 mission, was subsequently used for the in-flight abort test. Crew Dragon C206 ''Endeavour'', then, was assigned to the Demo-2 mission, replacing Crew Dragon C205. According to SpaceX, ''Endeavour'' underwent electromagnetic interference testing and completed acoustic testing in February 2020. On 13 February 2020, the spacecraft was in SpaceX's processing facility at
Cape Canaveral Space Force Station Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (CCSFS) is an installation of the United States Space Force's Space Launch Delta 45, located on Cape Canaveral in Brevard County, Florida. Headquartered at the nearby Patrick Space Force Base, the sta ...
,
Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...
to undergo final processing and testing in preparation for the Demo-2 launch. NASA's Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel (ASAP), on 23 April 2024, gave its approval for the late May launch saying it was feasible and safe. ''Endeavour'' was transported to the
Kennedy Space Center The John F. Kennedy Space Center (KSC, originally known as the NASA Launch Operations Center), located on Merritt Island, Florida, is one of the NASA, National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) ten NASA facilities#List of field c ...
, arriving at SpaceX's horizontal integration facility (HIF) at
Launch Complex 39A Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) is the first of Launch Complex 39's three launch pads, located at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Merritt Island, Florida. The pad, along with Launch Complex 39B, was built in the 1960s to accommodate the Saturn V lau ...
on 15 May 2020. The spacecraft was then mated to a
Falcon 9 Falcon 9 is a Reusable launch system#Partial reusable launch systems, partially reusable, two-stage-to-orbit, medium-lift launch vehicle designed and manufactured in the United States by SpaceX. The first Falcon 9 launch was on June 4, 2010, an ...
rocket and was rolled out onto the launch pad on 21 May 2020, with a static fire test completed the next day.


May 2020 launch

Astronauts
Bob Behnken Robert Louis Behnken (; born July 28, 1970) is an American engineer, a former NASA astronaut, and former Chief of the Astronaut Office. Behnken holds a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering and the rank of colonel in the U.S. Air Force, where he se ...
and
Doug Hurley Douglas Gerald Hurley (born October 21, 1966) is an American engineer, former Marine Corps pilot, and former NASA astronaut. He piloted Space Shuttle missions STS-127 (July 2009) and STS-135 (July 2011), the final flight of the Space Shuttle pro ...
were selected by NASA as the Demo-2 mission crew on 3 August 2018. Their mission validated crewed spaceflight operations using SpaceX hardware, including the Dragon spacecraft, the
Falcon 9 Falcon 9 is a Reusable launch system#Partial reusable launch systems, partially reusable, two-stage-to-orbit, medium-lift launch vehicle designed and manufactured in the United States by SpaceX. The first Falcon 9 launch was on June 4, 2010, an ...
rocket. SpaceX scrubbed Demo-2's first launch attempt because of weather conditions. The Demo-2 mission successfully launched on 30 May 2020. Hurley and Behnken's launch was the first to carry a crew to the
International Space Station The International Space Station (ISS) is a large space station that was Assembly of the International Space Station, assembled and is maintained in low Earth orbit by a collaboration of five space agencies and their contractors: NASA (United ...
from the United States since
STS-135 STS-135 ( ISS assembly flight ULF7) was the 135th and final mission of the American Space Shuttle program. It used the orbiter '' Atlantis'' and hardware originally processed for the STS-335 contingency mission, which was not flown. STS-135 ...
in July 2011. In a video tour of the spacecraft, shortly after the launch, Behnken and Hurley revealed they named the capsule ''Endeavour'' after the . They both flew their first space missions on Space Shuttle ''Endeavour'', on missions
STS-123 STS-123 was a Space Shuttle mission to the International Space Station (ISS) which was flown by Space Shuttle Endeavour, Space Shuttle ''Endeavour''. STS-123 was the 1J/A Assembly of the International Space Station, ISS assembly mission. The orig ...
and
STS-127 STS-127 (Assembly of the International Space Station, ISS assembly flight 2J/A) was a NASA Space Shuttle mission to the International Space Station (ISS). It was the twenty-third flight of . The primary purpose of the STS-127 mission was to deliv ...
, respectively. Additionally, each crew member brought along a toy from their family, in this case an
Apatosaurus ''Apatosaurus'' (; meaning "deceptive lizard") is a genus of herbivorous sauropod dinosaur that lived in North America during the Late Jurassic period. Othniel Charles Marsh described and named the first-known species, ''A. ajax'', in 1877, a ...
dinosaur named "Tremor", a sequined plush dinosaur toy, and a Ty flippables plush toy, continuing the tradition for astronauts to bring a plush toy or trinket aboard their spacecraft to serve as a zero-gravity indicator when weightlessness kicks in during spaceflight.


Station operations

Spending 19 hours in orbit approaching the ISS, Hurley demonstrated the ability to pilot the spacecraft via its touchscreen controls; upon reaching a distance of from the ISS docking ports, he let the automated docking program take over. ''Endeavour'' docked with the ISS on 31 May 2020. Hurley and Behnken joined the ISS
Expedition 63 Expedition 63 was the 63rd long duration mission to the International Space Station, which began on 17 April 2020 with the undocking of the Soyuz MS-15 spacecraft and continued until the undocking of the Soyuz MS-16 spacecraft on 21 October 20 ...
crew, which consisted of NASA astronaut
Chris Cassidy Christopher John "Chris" Cassidy (born January 4, 1970) is a retired NASA astronaut and United States Navy SEALs, United States Navy SEAL. Chris Cassidy achieved the rank of Captain (United States O-6), captain in the U.S. Navy. His first spacefl ...
and Russian cosmonauts
Ivan Vagner Ivan Viktorovich Vagner (, born 10 July 1985) is a Russian engineer and cosmonaut who was selected in October 2010. He graduated from the Baltic State Technical University in 2008, before working as an engineer for RKK Energia. He began his firs ...
and
Anatoli Ivanishin Anatoli Alekseyevich Ivanishin (; born 15 January 1969) is a former Russian cosmonaut. His first visit to space was to the International Space Station on board the Soyuz TMA-22 spacecraft as an Expedition 29/ Expedition 30 crew member, launch ...
. Behnken and Hurley launched to the ISS for an indeterminate time frame, which depended on ''Endeavours solar array degradation, the status of
Crew Dragon Resilience Crew Dragon ''Resilience'' (serial number C207) is the second operational Crew Dragon reusable spacecraft manufactured and operated by SpaceX, after Crew Dragon Endeavour, Endeavour. It first launched on 16 November 2020 to the International S ...
, and landing zone weather. NASA originally planned Demo-2 as a short test flight lasting about two weeks, but later chose to extend the mission to address the shortfall of crew in the ISS. According to
Ken Bowersox Kenneth Dwane "Sox" Bowersox (born November 14, 1956) is a United States Navy officer and former NASA astronaut. He is a veteran of five Space Shuttle launches and an extended stay aboard the International Space Station. When he launched on STS-73 ...
, acting administrator for NASA's human spaceflight program, the spacecraft was "doing very well" and NASA re-planned to bring the crew and ''Endeavour'' home in early August.


First splashdown in the Gulf

When ''Endeavour'' returned on 2 August 2020, it journeyed through a fast fiery descent of Earth's atmosphere and was slowed down by the capsule's drogue chute and suite of parachutes. It splashed down in the
Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico () is an oceanic basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, mostly surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north, and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States; on the southw ...
, near
Pensacola, Florida Pensacola ( ) is a city in the Florida panhandle in the United States. It is the county seat and only incorporated city, city in Escambia County, Florida, Escambia County. The population was 54,312 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. ...
, where a SpaceX recovery ship '' Go Navigator'' brought the crew and spacecraft back to shore. This mission was the first ocean-based recovery of an American crewed spacecraft since 1975, when the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project mission splashed down. Also, this mission was the first crew recovery to occur in the Gulf of Mexico. On the Demo-2 mission, ''Endeavour'' was in space for 63 days. The spacecraft was rated to spend 119 days in orbit, as its solar panels had less capability than a full production Crew Dragon capable of staying in space for up to 210 days. During the mission, NASA gave SpaceX approval to reuse flight-proven Crew Dragon spacecraft. Behnken and Hurley left a Demo-2 patch on the inside of ''Endeavour'' after their mission.
SpaceX Crew-2 SpaceX Crew-2 was the second operational flight of a SpaceX Dragon 2, Crew Dragon spacecraft, and the third overall crewed orbital flight of the Commercial Crew Program. The mission was launched on 23 April 2021 at 09:49:02 Coordinated Univers ...
mission commander, astronaut
Shane Kimbrough Robert Shane Kimbrough (born June 4, 1967) is a retired United States Army officer and NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the ...
, announced that the crew would keep the ''Endeavour'' name for the spacecraft. The seat Behnken used during his mission was later used by his wife,
K. Megan McArthur Katherine Megan McArthur (born August 30, 1971) is an American oceanographer, engineer, and NASA astronaut. She has served as a Flight controller#Spacecraft communicator (CAPCOM), Capsule Communicator (CAPCOM) for both the Space Shuttle and Inter ...
on the Crew-2 flight.


Crew-8 in-space record

''Endeavour's'' most recent mission was
SpaceX Crew-8 SpaceX Crew-8 was the eighth crewed operational NASA Commercial Crew Program, Commercial Crew flight and the 13th overall crewed orbital flight of a SpaceX Dragon 2, Crew Dragon spacecraft. The mission launched on 4 March 2024. The Crew-8 miss ...
. It launched on 3 March 2024 (local time) and returned to Earth on 25 October 2024. One of the crew members, mission specialist
Jeanette Epps Jeanette Jo Epps (born November 3, 1970) is an American aerospace engineer and retired NASA astronaut. Epps received both her M. S. and Ph.D. degrees in aerospace engineering from the University of Maryland, where she was part of the rotor-craft ...
, became the second African-American woman to be part of a long-duration mission onboard the ISS. The mission spent extra time in space due to an unexpected need to support
Boeing Crew Flight Test Boeing Crew Flight Test (Boe-CFT) was the first crewed mission of the Boeing Starliner capsule. Launched on 5 June 2024, the mission flew a crew of two NASA astronauts, Barry E. Wilmore and Sunita Williams, from Cape Canaveral Space Force Sta ...
mission astronauts
Sunita Williams Sunita Lyn "Suni" Williams ( Pandya; born September 19, 1965) is an American astronaut and a retired U.S. Navy officer. Williams served aboard the International Space Station as a participant in Expedition 14, a flight engineer for Expedition ...
and
Butch Wilmore Barry Eugene "Butch" Wilmore (born December 29, 1962) is an American NASA astronaut and United States Navy test pilot. He has had three spaceflights, the first of which was an 11-day Space Shuttle mission in November 2009, to the International ...
after problems with their spacecraft.


Flights

List includes only completed or currently manifested missions. Dates are listed in
Coordinated Universal Time Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) is the primary time standard globally used to regulate clocks and time. It establishes a reference for the current time, forming the basis for civil time and time zones. UTC facilitates international communicat ...
(UTC). For future events, they are listed as the earliest possible opportunities – which is also known as no-earlier-than (NET) dates – and may change.


References


External links

* {{SpaceX SpaceX Dragon 2 Individual space vehicles NASA spacecraft Crewed spacecraft